Here is a link to the MN DNR's proposal to consolidate the existing 77 zones into 9 larger areas in which you could hunt. I think this is a GREAT idea and it should be adopted by the MNDNR. After hunting in WI last spring and seeing how the WI DNR split the state into 7-10 zones made me very jealous. The only bad part about hunting in WI is that you are int he land of the Packers

im not really one for change but i really dont see to much prob with the change? in most areas outside whitewater & the extream northern &western fringe unit areas outside there isnt much wait for a tag unless u want 2 go the 1st wk or 2 of the season??? & after our late spring last yr im done hunting the 2nd wk got snowed on hopefully for the last time dureing MN turkey season!!! id just like to see a guy be asble to tag more then 1 bird if there are left over tags for a give n unit!!! eaither with the unit system we have now or the new 1 id love 2 wak 2-3 of the hill/bluff/coulee country easterns i chase every yr all at once or maybe be able 2 go 2nd wk & what ever season falls on the MN fishing opener most guys are chase n walleyes that wk-eng not long beards i love it!!! or whatever it may be as long as i could go back if my 1st season was junk due 2 weather of farmers or local hunters or what ever also id love to be able 2 trout fish more while turkey hunting SE MN & i think that could happen if i could go more then one 5 day period!!!??? i just hope that for some reason there isnt more guys near wear i want to hunt or more then in the past with our current system... shouldnt be a issue!!!??? i hope!!!???P.S. HEY DEWEY HOPE I DIDNT RUB U WRONG OR THERES NO HARD FEELINGS US VIKING LANDERS HAVE 2 STICK TOGETHER BEING SO CLOSE 2 CHEESE HEAD/PACKER LAND!!! hope they have multi periods we can hunt id love 2 show you the hills/bluffs/coulee country of south eastern minnesota trout/turkey country sometime & maybe check out the far north turkey woods??? or show u any of the other areas/sub species i chase??? kansas rios? nebraska merriams or rios or hybrids??? got a few more areas 2 try also in FL,WI,WY,SD,MT,OK... have only hunted MN,FL,KS,MT,NE thow buddys or family have hunted the other STATES B4...

Shoot TJ don't worry about irritating me. Everyone has their own opinions and is entitled to them. Plus it makes for good discussion when you have different points of view. Heck I even think you could learn something new after hearing another person’s point of view. I would also like to see MN go to at least offer the chance for a person to hunt your initial tag and if left unfilled be able to purchase another tag and hunt again. Seems like that would be a GIANT cash cow for the MN DNR. Gopher and I have had this discussion before under the MN thread. I understand that MN doesn’t have nearly the amount of turkeys as WI so I don't know if more than a 1 turkey bag limit is in the cards or not but the chance to hunt again is a fabulous idea in my book.

I think I might be going to central KS next spring to try and take a Rio home for supper.

dewey wrote:Shoot TJ don't worry about irritating me. Everyone has their own opinions and is entitled to them. Plus it makes for good discussion when you have different points of view. Heck I even think you could learn something new after hearing another person’s point of view. I would also like to see MN go to at least offer the chance for a person to hunt your initial tag and if left unfilled be able to purchase another tag and hunt again. Seems like that would be a GIANT cash cow for the MN DNR. Gopher and I have had this discussion before under the MN thread. I understand that MN doesn’t have nearly the amount of turkeys as WI so I don't know if more than a 1 turkey bag limit is in the cards or not but the chance to hunt again is a fabulous idea in my book.

I think I might be going to central KS next spring to try and take a Rio home for supper.

Hey Gpher are you going to the NDSU vs. U of MN game tomorrow? I am going to be there in my green and gold cheering like crazy for the Bison.

Go BISON!!!!

Dewey

cool didnt want any body to mad at me... oh are you planing on hunting public or private in kansas??? by your self or with a group??? if you hit central kansas just watch out where you go there is alot of hybrids in some areas of kansas so... if you are going out there alone let me know when??? im going out there for the kansas opener i think its on a wed??? 4-13 was this season... go early reguardlessof what the biologist on tv or hunting shows say we went early had tons of luck & tons of vocal birds went back out there late may barely herd a gobble only seen a few toms... went to nebraska & taged out in 2 days!!!

also dewey fight the urge to hunt the hybrid areas or eastern edge of the zone go as far west as u can help it!!! that way u know the bird that is going to go home with you is what you came there for!!! a rio grande!!! see guys on tv & in real life all the time try 2 save a few hrs in a truck & end up tag n a bird they could of got at home most the time a EASTERN sub species... its going to be a shocker for you out west being that the prairie is so damn open & the only places with trees are the creeks or old home steads... the birds will hit the prairie at fly down & spend most the day out there till it gets to hot in mid day... try 2 get in there way b4 they hit the open country & ur golden!!!

Well you know my feelings on this Dewey, Love the larger zones. Lets get this passed, then we can work on the more than 1 bird per spring/fall deal

I will not be at the UMN/NDSU game tomorrow, Going out for duck opener in the AM. Depending on how that goes, might do a little fishing or grouse hunting in the afternoon. There's only a dozen or so beautiful weekend days during the fall, can't waste um at a football game. go gophs!

It is working here so far in cheeseland, but not a fair comparison. We have more birds in one area than MN has in the whole state, ie Waupaca, Waushara, and Shawano counties the old zones 22 and 23 issued 20,000 tags per week. The problem here is finding those large numbers on land you can hunt, private land is off limits to most of us. The old days of permission to hunt are done,and money comes into play. That is why I come to MN, Roger from Beaver Creek Valley Stae Park got me hooked ! I experianced MN "nice" at it's finest; Harmony, Houston, the people make the trip not the turkey hunting. If the MN DNR can manage the turkey population; we get some better weather, higher poult survival rates, and all the hunters don't end up in the same spots, it will work out...

I was not able to hunt last season & 2012 not looking good either; 3rd job elimination in 2 years for Emily and I, a 4th one is looming in the backgroud the bike shop I help manage is being sold. I might be hunting & fishing just to feed my family...

look em' in the eye before you give em' the shaft...
be a man hunt public land...

arrowsonly wrote:It is working here so far in cheeseland, but not a fair comparison. We have more birds in one area than MN has in the whole state, ie Waupaca, Waushara, and Shawano counties the old zones 22 and 23 issued 20,000 tags per week. The problem here is finding those large numbers on land you can hunt, private land is off limits to most of us. The old days of permission to hunt are done,and money comes into play. That is why I come to MN, Roger from Beaver Creek Valley Stae Park got me hooked ! I experianced MN "nice" at it's finest; Harmony, Houston, the people make the trip not the turkey hunting. If the MN DNR can manage the turkey population; we get some better weather, higher poult survival rates, and all the hunters don't end up in the same spots, it will work out...

I was not able to hunt last season & 2012 not looking good either; 3rd job elimination in 2 years for Emily and I, a 4th one is looming in the backgroud the bike shop I help manage is being sold. I might be hunting & fishing just to feed my family...

arrowsonly you fell the same way as i do... thats crazy if 3 countys in WI have over 60,000-80,000 turkeys more then the hole state of minnesota...??? but im also worried about the hole a bunch of guys flock n to a area & wrecking many old school SE minnesota turkey chasers hunts/experience of the hunts... i do understand that many of the units & time periods to hunt dont all sell out & there is extra tags to be had... but to me thats ok i hunt in the same area as arowsonly beaver creek state park baby true old school minnesota turkey country!!! 425 guys a time period is enuff we dont really need to expand that any more... i understand guys up north in minnesota outside of the traditional range want 2 hunt more turkeys becouse they give out as few as 15-40 tags in some of them units & there is more birds in some of them areas so more tags could be a good thing up there but maybe not as good down south??? id just be happy if the extra tags that get wasted each & every season could be sold to those of us who want 2 tag another MN bird!!!or if there are extra tags for our time period we were drawn for we could also buy another tag or 2 like WI i dont see the big deal with that being passed??? i mean if they set a time period for 425 guys & only 325 buy a tag there could be another 100 tags sold & makeing the MNDNR $$$ not just leaveing 100 tags sit n there & not doing anybody hunters or MNDNR any good??? i mean the MNDNR allready says its ok to kill 425 birds each time period whats the big damn deal if i have 2 tags or 1 if i paid for the extra tag like everybody else??? that is a stupid law/way 2 sell turkey tags!!! leave extra tags go to waste instead of selling them 2 folks who want 2 pay $$$ for the surplus tags!!! the dont care about the birds 2 much being that anybody can just go buy a tag for eaither gun/archery the last 2 seasons in MN??? most of the guys ive talked to from minnesota who want the units/zones 2 be bigger so more guys can go in a given unit/area of the state havent ever been to a state to hunt turkey wear to many guys/hunters are a problem like FL,MO,MS,PA... i mean in those states its mostly public land problem with to many guys in a given area at 1 time in them states its not a time period or unit hunt its everybody can hunt the same peace of land at the same time if we want??? then nobody gets a bird??? also in states wear there is a problem with to many hunters at a given time/date we hunters tend to wreck it for everybody else by paying a farmer 2 hunt the land & then leaseing the land then the next guy 2 come ask permission gets told u have 2 pay or just flat out NO!!! its happend in WI for deer & FL for turkeys its eaither u go to a public peace of land & hunt with 10-50 other guys like in florida!!! or you pay a guide/farmer/jerk to hunt there private land witch they manage for paying clients... in florida locals think they should limit the #s of hunters on all state hunting lands 2 keep hunts a quality experience for everybody & i agree in florida i realized to much of something can be a bad bad thing like to many turkey hunters at a WMA 25-55 each day of there season is way to much i mean each & every wk of the florida season guys come from all over the country 2 hunt at the same peace of public land as a differnt group of 25-55 guys did the last wk & so on till the season is done!!! no wonder the turkeys there are so damn smart & not fun to hunt!!! so maybe we should do a little research b4 we go & expand our number of hunters per time period & unit in minnesota!!!??? like i said i dont see why the MNDNR cant sell the left over tags for a time period/unit if there are tags left over to a hunter who wants to buy them??? that will/dose not make any body happy or any money buy let n them tags just sit there & not ever to be sold??? maybe we could change that 1st& also if there are extra tags for another time period/unit or the same unit we allready hunted we could maybe buy a extra tag if after the 1st day of the season starts & there are extras left to be sold!!!??? meaning we could maybe hunt more then one 5 day time period a season!!!??? i dont think more hunters in a given area would be 2 much of a good thing... just make the tags that the MNDNR waste more available to hunter who want to by them!!!??? more people in a area takes away from the experience & quality of a hunt in my experience!!!??? maybe it wont on private lands??? but more guys in a area means more guys at the public land in the same area so we should all try to keep all the MINNESOTA turkey hunting experience a quality turkey hunting experience for everybody...

bummer looks like me and fellow public land MN turkey chasers will have to deal with more guys while out in our seasons!!! thats the only bad thing about turkey hunting its get n to popular & then everybody wants to change most something like 85 of MN hunters only hunt 2-3 days a yr out of a 5 day season i mean why cater to a bunch of guys that wont even hunt there full MN season!!! the guy said it best it will make there job easyier at the MNDNR thats a B/S reason to want to change the MN turkey zones & the numbers of hunters in a give n area... watch once all these guys go out & find a guy in there parking spot this next season there tunes will change this new system will catch flak!!! im contenplateing not even going to MN for the 1st time in years due to the changes mite head to wisconsin like charlie elk says!!!??? I STILL SAY SKIP THE ZONE CHANGES & JUST SELL THE SURPLUS/LEFT OVER TAGS THAT ARE AVAILABLE TO HUNTERS EVEN IF THEY DREW A TAG IN ANOTHER SEASON!!! THAT WILL BRING IN REVENUE & MAKE EVERYBODY HAPPY!!! THEY DONT EVEN KNOW IF THIS NEW SEASON CHANGE WILL END UP CAUSEING MORE TURKEY HARVESTS??? THATS B/S MAN TYPICAL MNDNR GUESSING WHAT WILL HAPPEN & NOT KNOWING MUCH!!!